"Sneeze" versus "Squeeze"

Various sources, and ultimately the commonly found consensus is that in January 2021, there was definitively a short squeeze of GME. That, the thing that happened to GME was a short squeeze, it was an event in history that happened, those parties that held a GME short position got squoze, then it ended, now it's over, an historical event that has passed.

For example, the Wikipedia article GameStop short squeeze plainly asserts that a short squeeze took place. The investopedia.com article short squeeze has a section about the "GameStop short squeeze," and also asserts plainly that such an event did happen.

In cases like this, the implication is that the events of January 2021 pertaining to GME amount now to a historical episode that happened, then it ended naturally, and now it is over. Yet, oftentimes, like in both of the information sources provided above, the magnitude of the situation is downplayed, and the severity of the actions taken is glossed over, such as when a multitude of market participants acted in unison to turn off the buy button for GME and other stocks. The action of disabling purchasing of stock for several days across most major stock brokerages provided a major break and advantage for those that were positioned short on GME. It was an unprecedented maneuver in response to a dramatic situation. Market personality Jim Cramer would later admit that "it was totally rigged."

GME shareholders often assert that shorts never closed. This view is based on the belief that short sellers opened GME short positions years prior to the run in January 2021. In those earlier times, the share price of GME was so low compared to the prices during and after the sneeze, that those parties holding that short position could not afford to close their short position, and therefore never did, and that eventually they must, and when they do, the real short squeeze will happen.